I’m an artist who is working towards finding a means to sustain my life based on my art. So, when the movie and music industry filed to take Pirate Bay to Courts, I disapproved. I know that’s sounds like a conflict, but if you consider the statistics on how Torrent Sites effect the art community, including the up and coming artists, you will realize why.I don’t think it’s ethically right to pirate movies, but should we legislate against torrents? It would mean giving the industry the right to expose our private information. No offense to these groups, but they have not shown themselves to be capable of taking the moral high road. Many have allegedly funded the computer virus industry, in hopes of scaring torrent users away. They have used third party systems to send threatening letters that would otherwise be illegal in their own countries. In cases where they were able to target the individual downloader’s, they found themselves taking to court, kids as young as 12, having downloaded only a hand full of MP3’s, which they feel are worth thousands of dollars each. You cannot convince me that any individuals MP3 can be valued at 4 figures. They ask for these amounts in court, not as a matter of personal compensation, but to be used as scare propaganda.
What these industries will not tell you in court, is how the torrent and download industry has benefited the small artist. Perhaps Madonna and Kenya West will make a million dollars less this year, but I’m thoroughly convinced that hundreds of small artist will make considerably more as a result of torrents.
What the production industry is really afraid of, is the idea of open source publishing; a system in which the quality they produce can be achieved by a basic home computer, and in that process, large scale distribution companies become less necessary to exposure and sales. This has been proven by bands such as "Radio Head", who have released entire albums for free, right off of their site. They released that if you produce a quality product, people will still pay for it, either through donation, or by purchasing the album later.
I am not saying that it’s right to download copy righted material from Torrents, but I don’t think these industries using lawyers like Darfur militia groups, spreading fear and making demands, is the answer either. And I certainly don’t think we can shut down the torrent sites unless were willing to take away people’s civil liberties.
I have yet to see one commercial, from the movie or music industry, that was not manipulative. They have not tried a “hey, were musicians, we worked very hard, please consider that before choosing what you download” campaign. It’s always been a black white issue for them. And they never consider that a good part of the torrent industry is legal content, and information that has benefited the education of society.
I recommend they use all the money they are spending on lawyers and put it into think tanks. They can find other ways to maintain their intellectual property that does not leave me asking why a private origination is allowed to view and limit my online web usage, and undermine the freedom that makes the internet an even playing field.
